Royal Fever: The British Monarchy in Consumer Culture

By Cele C. Otnes and Pauline Maclaran

No monarchy has proved more captivating than that of the British Royal Family. Across the globe, an estimated 2.4 billion people watched the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on television. In contemporary global consumer culture, why is the British monarchy still so compelling?  Rooted in fieldwork conducted from 2005 to 2014, this book explores how and why consumers around the world leverage a wide range of products, services, and experiences to satisfy their fascination with the British Royal Family brand. It demonstrates the monarchy’s power as a brand whose narrative has existed for more than a thousand years, one that shapes consumer behavior and that retains its economic and cultural significance in the twenty-first century.

The authors explore the myriad ways consumer culture and the Royal Family intersect across collectors, commemorative objects, fashion, historic sites, media products, Royal brands, and tourist experiences.Taking a case study approach, the book examines both producer and consumer perspectives. Specific chapters illustrate how those responsible for orchestrating experiences related to the British monarchy engage the public by creating compelling consumer experiences. Others reveal how and why people devote their time, effort, and money to Royal consumption—from a woman who boasts a collection of over 10,000 pieces of British Royal Family trinkets to a retired American stockbroker who spends three months each year in England hunting for rare and expensive memorabilia. Royal Fever highlights the important role the Royal Family continues to play in many people’s lives and its ongoing contribution as a pillar of iconic British culture.

• Language: English
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Release date: Oct 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9780520962149

Cele C. Otnes

Cele C. Otnes is Professor of Marketing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the author of Cinderella Dreams: The Allure of the Lavish Wedding. Pauline Maclaran is Professor of Marketing and Consumer Research at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Book preview

Royal Fever

Royal Fever

THE BRITISH MONARCHY IN CONSUMER CULTURE

Cele C. Otnes and Pauline Maclaran

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

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University of California Press

Oakland, California

© 2015 by The Regents of the University of California

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Otnes, Cele, author.

    Royal fever : the British monarchy in consumer culture / Cele C. Otnes and Pauline Maclaran. — First edition.

        pages    cm

    Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-520-27365-8 (cloth : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-0-520-27366-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-0-520-96214-9 (ebook)

    1. Windsor, House of—Public opinion.    2. Windsor, House of—Marketing.    3. Royal houses—Great Britain—Public opinion.    4. Royal houses—Great Britain—Marketing.    I. Maclaran, Pauline, author.    II. Title.    III. Title: British monarchy in consumer culture.

DA28.35.W54O88   2015

    929.7’2—dc232015024080

Manufactured in the United States of America

24  23  22  21  20  19  18  17  16  15

10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on Natures Natural, a fiber that contains 30% post-consumer waste and meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).

To Mark and Emily, and in memory of Susie M. Crabb, Anglophile Extraordinaire—CO

To Kate and Simon, and Frank and Gemma—PM

And from both of us, to Margaret Tyler, with gratitude and affection

CONTENTS

List of Figures and Tables

Preface

Acknowledgments

Proclaimed English/British Monarchs: 1066-Present

Key Events in the British Royal Family since 1981

Introduction: The Politics and Business of Monarchy

1 • The Magnetism of the Monarchy

2 • The Roots of Royal Fever

3 • A Head Full of Royal: Margaret Tyler’s Majestic World

4 • The Face on the Tea Towels: The Global Quest for Diana

5 • Pomp and Popcorn: The British Royal Family on Stage and Screen

6 • Marketing the Monarchy

7 • Storying the Monarchy: Royal Tourism and Historic Royal Palaces

8 • Weekends in Windsor: Castles, China, and Corgis

9 • William and Catherine: Remaking the Monarchy

10 • The Royal Family Brand: A Right Royal Future?

Appendix: Explanation of Fieldwork

Notes

Selected References

Index

FIGURES AND TABLES

FIGURES

1. Solar Queens

2. The Queen in a London optician’s ad, June 2012

3. Diana, Princess of Wales nesting dolls

4. The Royal Family Brand Complex

5. Resisting at Trooping the Colour, 2012

6. The Queen at Trooping the Colour, 2012

7. Diamond Jubilee merchandise display, Oxford

8. The Queen and Her Abbey exhibit, 2012

9. Margaret Tyler outside Heritage House

10. Margaret’s knitted Royal Family

11. Items in Margaret’s collection

12. Margaret’s Diana memorial picture

13. Diana ceiling painting, Heritage House

14. Diana tributes at Kensington Palace

15. Diana Memorial Temple, Althorp

16. Spitting Image slippers

17. Kenneth Branagh as Henry V (1989)

18. Watching Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee

19. Prince of Wales Royal Warrant

20. Windsor Farm Shop Balmoral hamper

21. Cadbury’s Chocolate Empire Box

22. Jack Daniel’s Queen Victoria Tube ad

23. Royal Pavilion, Brighton

24. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

25. The Orangery, Kensington Palace

26. The Long Walk, Windsor Great Park

27. Royal telephone box, Windsor

28. Wintry Changing of the Guard, Windsor

29. Royal Ascot hat

30. Margaret’s William and Catherine table

31. Catherine Middleton in the Queen’s Rolls-Royce

32. Keep Calm: It’s Only a Royal Baby display

33. Fortnum & Mason’s royal baby display

34. Loyalist mural, Shankill, Northern Ireland

35. The Forgotten Prince, Time cover reproduction

36. A Right Royal Weekend, London bus ad

TABLES

1. Margaret’s Brand Collector Identities and Their Social Roles

2. Soap Opera Characteristics and Parallels with Diana’s Life

3. Shakespeare’s Plantagenet Plays: Key Themes and Quotes

4. Royal Film Productions

5. Key Royal Tourist Sites in Britain

6. Special Beers to Commemorate the Royal Wedding

PREFACE

What would British consumer culture—or for that matter, global consumer culture—be like if its Royal Family had never existed? At various times throughout the thousand-plus-year history of the monarchic clan, millions of people have sought to experience its pomp, pageantry, and peccadilloes, enmeshing themselves in the life stories of individual family members, or in the saga of the lineage as a whole. The invention of the telegraph and cheap printing techniques in the mid-nineteenth century enabled rapid-fire transmission of images and information, spurring the growth of royal fever on the global stage. Of late, computer-based and cellular communication modes have helped the British Royal Family (hereafter, the Royal Family) to once again achieve a successful reputational turnaround.

One long-standing way to consume the Royal Family is to delve into any number of books (or entire genres) devoted to them. When we began this project, Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies, the second volume in her historical fiction trilogy about Henry VIII’s court, had just won the United Kingdom’s Man Booker prize for fiction (its precursor, Wolf Hall, did so in 2009). But books on the topic are not always literary; they are academic, architectural, artistic, biographical, commemorative, cultural, fictional, historical, humorous, pop-cultural, and even pop-up.¹ Quite reasonably, a reader might ask, Why do we need another book on the Royal Family? Our answer is that as researchers of consumer behavior, we focus on how people engage in and with contemporary consumption practices and the goods, services, and experiences associated with this particular monarchy. In short, this book focuses both on what people buy or do when they engage in royal-related consumption and why they feel compelled to do so.

We became intrigued by this topic as we noticed the seemingly endless links between the marketplace and past and present royal personages in commemoratives, fashion, films and television, historic sites, media products, and touristic experiences, to name but a few arenas. As our appendix explains, we officially began our fieldwork with a weeklong immersion in England that culminated in the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles in April 2005. We technically concluded our fieldwork with another immersion of the same length in March 2014. But even as we were finalizing the details of this book, the royal-memorabilia marketplace was gearing up for yet another merchandising opportunity—namely, celebrating the birth of Princess Charlotte, the second child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Although our ethnographic approach emphasizes contemporary aspects of royal production and purchasing, we also delve into the deeply rooted history of this phenomenon, which predates both the creation of market-oriented economies and a global contemporary consumer culture. As many historians observe, long before high-quality goods and services were available to their subjects, monarchs enjoyed the finest offerings that artisans, chefs, and craftsmen could produce. Even as consumption has become more democratized, kings, queens, and their families around the globe still occupy the top of the human social hierarchy. Consequently, most typically enjoy unfettered access to customized and luxurious goods, services, and experiences.

During our nine years of work on this book, we witnessed the receding and resurgence of what many now call the Royal Family brand.² In June 2000, the British newspaper the Guardian reported that support for the Royal Family was at its lowest level in modern times, with only 44 percent of those polled believing Britain would be worse off without a monarchy. Furthermore, more people indicated indifference to the Royal Family’s existence than had done so in the early 1990s, when only 5% to 10% said they did not have a view.³ But just twelve years later (a mere drop in the bucket for the over-thousand-year lineage), and prior to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012, another Guardian poll showed the Royal Family enjoying record popularity, with 69 percent of respondents agreeing Britain would be worse off if the monarchy was to be disbanded.⁴

Even when interest in the Royal Family in Britain was at its nadir, St. James’s Palace (the moniker for the monarchy’s publicity department, housed in that residence) continued to emphasize the need for brand visibility. For example (and as chapters 7 and 8 explore), in 1993 the Queen agreed for the first time to open Buckingham Palace to the public. Since then, it has become one of the more popular royal sites in London. In the summer of 2011, a record 600,000 visitors traipsed through its rooms and corridors, a 50 percent increase from the year before. No doubt, the visitor count was spurred by the palace’s exhibit of the wedding gown that Catherine Middleton wore when she married Prince William in April of that year.⁵

To be clear about our own stance, neither of us entered into this project because we collect or consume Royal Family phenomena beyond any average touristic sense. Yet we understand the appeal of many aesthetic and experiential elements contained within the royal consumption smorgasbord. We can appreciate Andy Warhol’s diamond-dusted portraits of the Queen, admire the way The King’s Speech was cast and crafted, and enjoy the haute-couture gowns designed for women in the Royal Family. At the same time, we recognize that the monarchy is not everyone’s cup of Earl Grey tea. In short, our goal is to shine the spotlight on how the British monarchy has wielded, and continues to wield, its influence in the marketplace. We hope to unpack the myriad reasons consumers and creators of royal-related products, services, and experiences find themselves drawn to these entities, and why they devote their money, creative energy, and leisure time to the intersection of the British monarchy and consumer culture.

Proponents of the institution often argue that the Royal Family exerts a great deal of economic and cultural significance not only in Britain, but also within a growing global consumer culture. Yet these sentiments often encounter rancorous resistance from critics who label the institution archaic and elitist. Such divisiveness, coupled with the controversies often surrounding (and sometimes spurred by) the Royal Family over the dynasty’s long tenure, provide compelling reasons for a book that focuses on how and why people continue to devote themselves to consuming (and producing; see chapters 6 and 7) all things royal. And as we also demonstrate, engaging in such practices is an increasingly popular pastime across the globe.

The summary of recent activity within the Royal Family in Key Events in the British Royal Family since 1981 (p. xxiv) depicts the monarchy’s myriad milestones and transitions in recent decades. Moreover, there is no doubt that other events of equal or greater magnitude will occur in the near future. Given the Queen’s robust health and the fact that her mother lived to be 101, it is likely that on September 9, 2015, Elizabeth II will become the longest-reigning monarch in British history, surpassing Victoria’s reign of sixty-three years, seven months, and three days (or 23,226 days, 16 hours, and 23 minutes). More of the Queen’s grandchildren are likely to marry and have children in the next decade, and a royal funeral or two seems inevitable. We predict these events will contribute to increased cultural and consumer-oriented interest in the British monarchy.

Winnowing our choice of the types of royal-related consumption and production to explore proved challenging, given the seemingly infinite array of options. In the end, we decided to try and capture a fairly wide representation of experiences. Several key figures who emerge in this book assisted us with our goal. One is Margaret Tyler, known in Britain and beyond as a prolific, self-described eccentric collector of royal memorabilia. Nevertheless, because the Royal Family cuts such a wide swath across the global-commercial landscape, we did minimize or omit several key topics. Probably the one receiving the shortest shrift pertains to historical and current commentaries on royal food consumption and production. However, several excellent resources discuss the pivotal role of banquets and food practices among the contemporary family, and others offer perspectives on royal gastronomic rituals during specific historical periods.⁶ Nor do we devote as much space as is deserved to the Royal Family’s patronage of the arts (including their support of artists, authors, composers, and dramatists). Again, several excellent resources exist on this topic.⁷

The introduction that follows offers a basic overview of the origins, structure, and past and present roles of monarchies in the world—but primarily in Britain. Chapter 1 explores the pervasiveness of the Royal Family as a cultural and global entity, and presents our arguments for understanding the brand as a phenomenon that we label the Royal Family Brand Complex (RFBC). In chapter 2, we examine what we identify as the key internal and external support systems that enable the RFBC to retain its prominence in global consumer culture. Chapter 3 introduces the reader to the world of Margaret Tyler, royal collector extraordinaire—now a media celebrity in her own right—and discusses how such passionate preservers of the British monarchy contribute to its value and visibility.

In chapter 4, we describe how the public commoditized and consumed the now-iconic Diana, Princess of Wales, who came to dominate the global discourse surrounding the British monarchy during her lifetime. In chapter 5, we review the ways film, television, and theater have portrayed and popularized the Royal Family. Chapter 6 explores the ways the RFBC intersects with various aspects of the marketplace. It explores how the Royal Warrant makes visible the monarchy’s patronage of goods and services, and how the RFBC leverages the marketplace to serve its own commercial and cultural interests. We also delve into how advertisers depict the Royal Family, sometimes in ways that skirt established standards. In chapter 7, we discuss the history and management of royal touristic practices, delving into the strategic activities of Historic Royal Palaces, a charity responsible for the day-to-day operations of six royal residences. Chapter 8 continues our focus on royal sites by offering a case study of Windsor, England. Located just twenty-three miles from London, it is home to the venerable Windsor Castle and is the Queen’s favorite weekend getaway. We explore the locale as the site of many key events in royal history.

No book on royal consumer culture would be complete without exploring the two most recent monumental events occurring within the British monarchy—the wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton on April 29, 2011, and the birth of their son, Prince George, on July 22, 2013. In chapter 9, we review the extravagance, fashion, luxury, and opulence (and occasional reining in and resistance) associated with these events, and how they contribute to the RFBC. Chapter 10 offers our reflections on the future trajectory of the RFBC and the issues we believe it will face as it tries to maintain its appeal in Britain and the world.

Finally, we would like to explain two of our stylistic choices. First, regarding our titular reference to Queen Elizabeth II, it is standard practice for some stakeholders (e.g., the British monarchy’s official website, Historic Royal Palaces) to always refer to Her Majesty as The Queen, (with a capital T), regardless of where her title appears in a sentence. (Note that the British Parliament’s official website does not follow this convention.) With no disrespect intended, we follow the lead of most scholars and authors, who use a lowercase the in her title. Second, with respect to our usage of royal versus Royal, we use the uppercase version only when it appears as part of a proper noun (e.g., Royal Ascot). As protocol dictates, we now bow out of this preface, without turning our back to the Queen. We hope readers find the topic of how the RFBC intersects with British and global consumer culture as engaging to read about as we have found it to explore.

Cele Otnes, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Pauline Maclaran, Royal Holloway University of London

May 2015

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The number of people whom we wish to thank for their assistance and moral support over the many years we spent preparing this book could fill up the Clock Courtyard at Hampton Court Palace. First, we are especially grateful to Margaret Tyler, who allowed us into her life for almost a decade, entertained and educated us with her deep knowledge of the Royal Family and its myriad consumer-culture proliferations, and introduced us to many producers and consumers of the Royal Family.

We are grateful to members of the staff at Historic Royal Palaces for their time and insights—including Michael Day, Deirdre Murphy, and Alexandra Kim. We thank both Robert Lower and John Pym, the owner and the manager of the former commemorative store Hope and Glory, who talked to us at length about royal commemorative memorabilia and introduced us to many of their customers. We thank those who took the time to discuss their collections and other types of royal-related passions with us, as well as members of the media who allowed us to interview them, and the fans we met at the Making of a Monarchy for the Modern World conference at Kensington Palace in 2012. They include Theodore Harvey, whose encyclopedic knowledge of the monarchy and role as a consultant to the manuscript is much appreciated. Thanks also to Andrew Lannerd, who was extremely helpful in correcting and offering facts, figures, and nuances pertaining to the manuscript, and who shared aspects of his collection with us.

We thank our academic departments and universities for their financial, intellectual, and moral support in helping us to produce and disseminate this work. Our many academic friends and colleagues have been supportive. Two in particular—Eileen Fischer of York University and Elizabeth Crosby of the University of Wisconsin LaCrosse—coauthored with us on related pieces of the royal consumption saga, and helped us to remain relevant and engaged in our academic community while we juggled the overwhelming aspects of book authorship. We thank Mike Robinson, director of the Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage, and Helaine Silverman and Paul Kapp, director and associate director of the Collaborative for Cultural Heritage Management and Policy at the University of Illinois, respectively, for their feedback on various presentations of this work. We appreciate all of the royal tidbits sent to our e-mail inboxes and Facebook pages, and the enthusiasm and suggestions for this project from our academic friends and colleagues, including Catherine Alington, Fleura Bardhi, Stephen Brown, Giana Eckhardt, Christina Goulding, Deborah Owen, Andy Prothero, Aric Rindfleisch, Shona Rowe, Julie Ruth, Sharon Shavitt, Madhu Viswanathan, Tiffany White, Linda Tuncay Zayer, and our faculty colleagues in our respective departments. Tony Farr gave us great feedback on various draft chapters. Kent Drummond and Ashleigh Logan shared wonderful insights on their personal experiences of royal events. Kimberly Sugden shared her perspective as an American expat in England and kindly allowed us to reproduce several photos of royal-related activities. We thank Paul Kapp, Ashleigh Logan, John F. Sherry, Jr., and Ekant Veer for allowing us to use their photographs. Thanks also to the staff at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois, and everyone who bestowed royal memorabilia and ephemera on us (including resistant versions; in that vein, thanks to Alan Bradshaw).

We appreciate the contributions of our former students or assistants who assisted with presentations, book chapters, and vital compilations for the book, especially Caitlin Carson, Joseph Evertz, Julian Hartman, Ben Lee, Jonathan Philippe, and Elaina Shapiro. Thanks to other undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Illinois and beyond who worked for us for money or academic credit: Lauren Bonvallet, Garrett Burger, Jackie Ceglinski, Johanna Kephart, Lilian Mehta, Emily Otnes, Gina Puntini, Leonard Schloer, Adam Sidor, Tammy Stern, Carlos Uribe, and Ye Sun. Julian Hartman deserves special mention for being immersed in the royal trenches for almost a year, and for spearheading many excellent finds for the chapters. Doctoral-level research assistants at Illinois who helped us with this project include Robert Arias, Sydney Chinchanachokchai, Elizabeth Crosby, Erin Ha, Behice Ece Ilhan, Mina Kwon, Atul Kulkarni, and Srinivas Venugopal. Samiya Khan, a student at Royal Holloway University of London, also collected data for us. We take full responsibility for any omissions or errors.

Finally, we are extremely grateful to our acquisitions editor, Reed Malcolm, as well as Rachel Berchten, Leslie Davisson, Stacy Eisenstark, Elena McAnespie, and other members of the editorial, production, and marketing teams at the University of California Press for their patience, enthusiasm for, and faith in this project. We thank Elizabeth Berg for her detailed copyediting. We are also especially grateful to those who reviewed the book for the Press and made suggestions for improvement. Most of all, we thank our families for their continual support (and Mark Otnes for his assistances with graphics, as always), for learning more than they probably thought they would ever learn about the Royal Family, and for sharing material and even eyewitness accounts of some of the relevant events they witnessed.

PROCLAIMED ENGLISH/BRITISH MONARCHS: 1066–PRESENTa

HOUSE OF NORMANDY

HOUSE OF BLOIS

HOUSE OF ANJOU

HOUSE OF PLANTAGENET

HOUSE OF LANCASTER

HOUSE OF YORK

HOUSE OF TUDOR

HOUSE OF STUART

THE INTERREGNUM (NO MONARCH)

HOUSE OF STUART (RESTORED)

HOUSE OF HANOVER

HOUSE OF SAXE-COBURG AND GOTHA

HOUSE OF WINDSOR

a Three others ruled for very short periods, but their claims to the throne were disputed: Matilda (1141), Louis VIII of France (1216–17), and Lady Jane Grey (1553).

b Following French tradition, Henry II had his son crowned co-ruler in 1170. But Henry the Young King predeceased his father, so typically he is not included in the line of succession.

c Never crowned.

d Upon his marriage to Mary in 1554, Philip II of Spain was declared King of England by an Act of Parliament, but lost his claim to the throne when she died in 1558.

e The Acts of Union in 1706 and 1707 united the Kingdoms of England and Scotland as Great Britain; thereafter, Anne became Queen of Great Britain and Ireland.

f Never crowned.

KEY EVENTS IN THE BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY SINCE 1981

INTRODUCTION

Line

The Politics and Business of Monarchy

During a hectic two-week period in early 2013, those who follow the goings-on of monarchies around the world found themselves with news aplenty to pique their interest. On January 28, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands announced she was giving up the throne to make way for her forty-five-year old son to become the first Dutch king since 1890. Exactly one week later, archaeologists at Britain’s University of Leicester confirmed through DNA testing that a skeleton located in the ruins of Greyfriars Church below a car park in that city belonged to King Richard III. In 1485, he was the last English king to die in battle, and his body was thought to have been irretrievably lost. Finally, on February 11, Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation after eight years as pontiff. The pope is ruler of the Catholic Church, and Vatican City is considered a monarchy, so his decision was as much an abdication as Queen Bea’s two weeks before. Worldwide, each event spurred conversations about royalty, rulers, and renewal—and they also provide an excellent starting point from which to pose the question: in contemporary global society, why are monarchies still so compelling to millions of people around the world?

As we note in the preface, our book focuses on why and how consumers and producers invest their time, money, energy, and other resources engaging with the Royal Family. Given the sheer scope of these activities, we discuss to a lesser extent why some resist engaging in them. To ground our discussion, in this introduction we offer a brief overview of what monarchy means in the current global landscape. In so doing, we set the stage to explore why the Royal Family has endured for over one thousand years, when many (in truth, most) monarchic dynasties have been disbanded or disrupted, or have disappeared altogether.a Put simply, the institution of monarchy is on the downslide; although it was the most popular form of government in the nineteenth century, only forty-four nations recognize monarchs today—and sixteen of these, known as the Commonwealth Realms, share Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. After we discuss the basic configurations of monarchy, we turn our attention to the Royal Family in particular, exploring issues pertaining to their genetic connections, the evolution of their duties and powers, and the financing of their luxurious (or, in their critics’ eyes, ludicrously lavish) lifestyles.

We begin by addressing a seemingly straightforward question: What is a monarchy? The simple answer is that it is the form of government that concentrates political power in one ruler (or occasionally in joint ones, as exemplified by William III and Mary II of England). This concentration of sovereignty is what distinguishes a monarchy from the other broad category of government—the republic—in which multiple political leaders are elected or appointed to lead, rather than inheriting the responsibility. In short, the distinguishing characteristic of a republic is that it is not headed by a monarch. Moreover, when a sovereign’s subjects say they advocate republicanism, this does not mean they necessarily share political leanings with the U.S. political party of the same name. Instead, they are expressing their desire for the monarchy to end altogether.

The process of assuming the throne is known as accession, rather than the often misused term ascension (as one Royal-retailer we interviewed quipped, Only Jesus had an ascension).¹ But, to confuse matters, once accession occurs, it is typical parlance to describe a monarch as ascending the throne. Technically, the title passes to the successor immediately after the previous monarch dies or is deposed; no ceremony is required to enact the change of power, although in Britain the new monarch meets with the Accession Council for a formal proclamation of succession. Many countries mark the transition with a simple inaugural blessing or benediction. But in the United Kingdom and some Asian countries, new monarchs participate in public and often extremely elaborate coronation ceremonies. These cultural events often occur months after a monarch’s accession, not only because they require time to plan but because it is considered inappropriate to conduct anything celebratory so close to the recent death of the previous monarch. Of course, these events can also be extremely expensive; merely decorating the streets of London for the Queen’s coronation in 1953 cost £36 million ($61.6 million in today’s dollars). These ceremonies also typically feature a mélange of micro-rituals, such as the anointing of the monarch with holy oil as a sign of divine endorsement, somber processions of nobility and important political figures, an impressive guest list brimming with foreign leaders and dignitaries, and attendees (especially the new ruler) bedecked in special jewels, robes, and symbols.

Monarchs are known by many honorifics around the world, including King/Queen, Emperor/Empress, Czar/Czarina (from the word Caesar), Sultan, and (more rarely, given the paucity of women rulers in Muslim countries) Sultana. These are often followed by a slew of royal styles and titles that capture the scope of the monarch’s dominion. The Queen’s most recognized style and title is short and simple, considering the size of her realm: Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. Yet her actual style and title depends on which area of the world is addressing her. In short, she possesses a different honorific within each of the sixteen Commonwealth realms.

Another key aspect of monarchy is that it is typically understood as a job for life, which is why Queen Beatrix’s abdication was noteworthy to many royal-watchers around the world. (Her own subjects may not have been very surprised; she was actually the third Dutch monarch in a row to abdicate.) In contrast, even as she approaches her ninetieth birthday on April 21, 2016, Elizabeth II is highly unlikely to relinquish her crown, since British monarchs typically keep hanging on, until death parts them from the throne.² Should the Queen emulate her mother and live to be 101, Prince Charles—already Britain’s longest-serving heir apparent—will be close to eighty when he accedes.

In sum, the monarchic system typically relegates ruling power to one individual, who often, but not always, retains the throne until death. Yet the real-world configurations of monarchies are much more complex than this definition implies. Understanding the global variations requires unpacking issues such as how succession is determined and how (if at all) a monarch wields power.

Historically, royal succession has typically been the most critical issue rulers must face. At times in history when succession policies have been ambiguous—as when monarchs waited until breathing their last to name their successors—the consequences have been monumental and disastrous. In fact, the Royal Family’s entire lineage is traceable to a succession dispute that began in 1066 between Harold II and William of Normandy. Harold, who had no hereditary claim to the throne, was elected king by the Witan, a council of Anglo-Saxon rulers of England’s regional territories, after Edward the Confessor died without naming a successor. William, on the other hand, was Edward’s actual blood relative. When he defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings and united several disparate kingdoms, William became the common ancestor of all subsequent kings and queens of England (after 1707, the Kingdom of Great Britain).

For hundreds of years after William’s reign, the wars English rulers funded and fought were almost as likely to be internal fights for the Crown as they were reactions to foreign threats. The financial and human costs of such crises eventually became too great to sustain, even for medieval kings, whose popularity and power depended as much on their skill with a sword as on their ability to craft foreign diplomacy. As political and legal systems became increasingly bureaucratized during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, monarchies found their paths to perpetuation codified into laws. The most common outcome was stipulating a hereditary route to succession—but here again, definitions of what constitutes an heir still vary widely across monarchies. For example, one common version of male primogeniture dictates that the crown and title must pass to the monarch’s firstborn son, and then to any heirs this son produces, regardless of their sex. If the firstborn son has no children, this procedure is repeated with the second son and so on, until a son or grandchild of the original monarch ultimately is selected.

Other countries follow a much stricter version of this law, stipulating that only the male children of male heirs are eligible to succeed. Under that system, a monarch with no male heirs will find his daughters and any of their children passed over. Rights to the crown then pass to the closest eligible male relative, even one living in another region or foreign country (who might not even speak the language of his new subjects). Historically, it has often been the case that as the biological and geographic distance between blood relatives increased, claims to the throne became thornier—and the chances of conflict over succession more likely.

Until very recently, the British system followed a more liberal form of male primogeniture, allowing daughters of monarchs to accede if no other legitimate male heirs existed. This distinction was critical given the number of illegitimate children sired by English kings (Charles II reputedly had fourteen to seventeen, by perhaps as many as eight different mistresses). Ironically, this rule led to the situation where Queen Victoria, who was both female and the longest-reigning monarch in British history, had to pass over her firstborn daughter, Princess Victoria, in favor of her firstborn son, Prince Albert Edward. The Queen’s second-oldest child, Princess Anne, also has moved several places down the line of succession due to male primogeniture. When Anne was born, she was second in the line of succession. At present, she is now twelfth in line behind her three brothers, all of their male and female children, and the children of Prince William and his wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.

Especially for critics of the monarchy, it may have seemed that the stone walls encasing the institution within such an inherently sexist succession system were virtually impenetrable. But in April 2013, Parliament passed the Succession to the Crown Act, which states that heirs to the throne will now be determined according to the more liberal rule of absolute primogeniture. Effectively, this means that if Prince William and Catherine’s first child had been a girl, she would have been the first female in British history to not have become queen simply because no eligible male relatives could be found.

Both biological sex and birth order seem to dictate relatively straightforward succession guidelines. To make matters more complicated, however, some hereditary monarchies layer additional stipulations onto these criteria. For example, British law still excludes Catholics from inheriting the throne, a vestige of the Act of Settlement in 1701. At that time, after Queen Anne’s death, over fifty of her Catholic heirs were bypassed in the quest for a successor. George Louis, who ruled the German state of Hanover, made an uncontested bid for the throne, although he was not the only candidate who could claim blood ties. In 1714, at age fifty-four, he arrived for the only the second time on the shores of England and was crowned George I, even while retaining his Hanoverian title.³

In contrast to hereditary systems, some countries elect monarchs after delegates debate the merits of potential nominees and cast votes. Sometimes the candidate pool consists of the current ruler’s relatives, who (perhaps not surprisingly) often elect a member of their own family to succeed. In these situations, both elected and hereditary succession procedures come into play. The most visible elected monarchy is that of Vatican City. In March 2013, after Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation, the 115 Catholic cardinals who were under age eighty convened in the Sistine Chapel, discussing nominees and proceeding through several rounds of voting, until two-thirds of them had cast their ballots for Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, who took the name Pope Francis upon his election.

Types of monarchies also can be delineated according to the source and amount of the ruler’s power. Two categories exist, with the constitutional option much more common than the alternative, which is absolute rule. As implied by the name, in absolute monarchies rulers wield total and complete power over their subjects, typically with guidance from trusted advisers. Only six absolute monarchies exist today. Five—Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Swaziland—are also hereditary; the sixth is the elected papacy.

Constitutional monarchies exist within the confines of laws drawn up by larger governing bodies. As more diverse and less monarchic forms of government took hold throughout Europe from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, a common pattern emerged: either authoritarian monarchs subjected themselves to the policies put forth by constitutional (or communist) rule or they faced dire consequences, such as banishment or execution. Often, people felt deep ambivalence about deposing such a visible cultural symbol, one who had represented their cultural values and their nation’s visibility on the world stage. In France, where the opulence of the royal court had become morally reprehensible to so many living in poverty, this ambivalence showed itself in a series of stutter-steps to abolish the monarchy. After the decade-long French Revolution began in 1789, the monarchy was not abolished until 1792. It was then resurrected in 1814, only to be abolished again in 1848. But even today, the Royalistes de France gather every January 21, the date Louis XVI was beheaded, not just to pay homage . . . but to mourn the death of the French monarchy.⁴

Constitutional monarchies specify not only rules pertaining to succession but also the duties and limits of the ruler’s power. Although Britain ostensibly adheres to this system, in truth the nation has no formal written constitution. Instead, members of Parliament (or MPs) debate and craft laws, Acts of Parliament, and unwritten conventions. Collectively, this legislation serves as the ratified body of work that directs and guides policy in Britain—and that its monarchs must respect.

Worldwide, two main forms of constitutional monarchies exist. First, executive constitutional monarchies feature rulers who are still subject to laws but remain visibly and actively involved in determining the political activities of their country. For instance, Prince Albert of Monaco exercises joint rule over his (three-quarter-square-mile) realm with a minister of state whom he selects. This minister both acts as Albert’s counsel and adviser, and oversees two legislative councils that debate and enact laws. In contrast, a ceremonial constitutional monarchy typically is stripped of any true authority. Although a ceremonial monarch may be recognized as titular head of state, typically an elected politician assumes the responsibilities of running the government on a day-to-day basis. In Britain and Japan, for example, the prime minister (or PM) takes on this role, functioning much like the president of the United States, by wielding executive power and working with the legislative branch to formulate and implement policy.

Monarchists, or those who support the institution in its various forms, often argue that Royal families represent important symbolic and emotional links to national heritage. In Britain, historically both Parliament and the citizenry have supported its monarchy through financial and social means, in myriad ways. In line with the pervasive norm of reciprocity that typifies many social relationships, however, supporters also expect monarchs and their families to willingly play roles in significant and visual cultural rituals, national holidays, and global events. When they choose not to, the reputation of the monarchy can suffer, lending cultural credence to calls for republicanism. For example, after her husband, Prince Albert, died in 1861 at age forty-two, Queen Victoria entered a ten-year phase of deep mourning and almost total seclusion, earning the nickname the Widow of Windsor. Although eventually cajoled into increasing her public appearances, her protracted privacy . . . cast a gloom over high society[,] deprived the populace of its pageantry, [and harmed] the dressmaking, millinery, and hosiery trades.⁵

Having explained the various permutations of monarchy, we can now describe the